World Expo 2020: A Game Changer for Dubai

By Swati Srivastava

Following the UAE’s win to host the World Expo 2020 in Dubai,
all eyes are now focused on how the popular event would witness to be a game
changer for the region’s job market in general and for Dubai in particular.

Dubai has undergone a noticeable transformation from ‘a
pearl-diving center’ to the world’s one of the rapidly growing cities. The
financial crisis 2008 left several economies in a slumber. However, Dubai
quickly covered the distance from the ashes to emerging as the first Middle
East country to beat the tough competitors (Sao Paolo, Ekaterinburg, and Izmir) and snatch the World Expo 2020
bid.

Today, Dubai is a major trade, logistics and tourism hub of
the world. With several upcoming projects such as Mohammed Bin Rashid City and some
other delayed schemes again coming back in the pipeline, Dubai’s economic boost
is anticipated.

World Expo 2020: The
Growing Opportunities

The economic developments in the UAE, Dubai, as well as the
wider regions are expected to reach heights in the coming years after Dubai’s
win to host the Expo 2020. As per the Economic Impact report,Dubai Expo 2020 would
create more than 277,000 jobs during 2013 to 2021. Out of the total jobs, over
40 per cent jobs would be available in the travel & tourism sector.

According to several reports, the Dubai Expo 2020 would
bring a direct impact on various sectors and spur the investments in
hospitality, construction, real estate, tourism, and financial service
sectors.

The changing game for
the various sectors

Let’s take a look at how some of the key sectors will be
impacted:

Tourism and
Hospitality

As per the Alpen Capital’s GCC Hospitality Industry
Report 2012, the
hospitality market in the GCC is expected to reach US$28.3 billion by 2016 from
US$19.2 billion in 2011. Dubai 2020 will attract 25 million visitors over the
period, of which over 70 per cent will constitute the non-UAE visitors.

The impact of the mega event has a key impact on the hospital
industry in Dubai. According to the sources, over 45,000 additional hotel rooms will
be added to the available 82,000 hotel room supply to accommodate the Expo 2020
visitors in the future. Moreover,
several projects for hotel construction are under pipeline near the Dubai 2020
site, and the other locations of the city. The estimated investment in the
hotel industry is US$7.2 billion, which will also increase the job opportunities.

Real Estate &
Construction

These sectors are the immediate beneficiary of the World
Expo 2020. The Government of Dubai has embarked funds for the excellent
infrastructure development, particularly for hospitality, real estate and
construction industries.

The real estate
and construction sector will also significantly benefit from the massive
expansion planned in the hotel capacity of Dubai. For accommodating the housing
need of the expatriates during the event, real estate projects are seeing an
all-time boom. The event is also believed to bring a major impact on the demand
of office spaces.

Mohammed Bin Rashid City is
one of the significant real estate developments going on in Dubai. This master
plan would include more than 100 hotels, a public park, and the world’s biggest
shopping mall.

Transportation &
Infrastructure

The event has given an opportunity to
support its ongoing efforts to become a global transportation hub for cargo and
passengers. Moreover, the Dubai government has also funded projects to expand
the city’s airport infrastructure (Dubai International Airport), which is known
as the world’s second busiest airport in terms of the international passenger
traffic. The expansion costing is estimated to be US$7.8 billion.

Dubai’s second major international airport, Al Maktoum International Airport holds
a capacity to manage over 160 million passengers every year. The further
development of the airport will play a key role in servicing the Dubai Expo
2020. Apart from this, the Dubai’s Transport & Road Authority has announced
the proposal worth US$1.4 billion for the city’s metro rail line extension.

Using the Expo as a
springboard, several businesses in the region seek opportunities to build
alliances, expand, and create job opportunities. This global opportunity goes
well with the Expo theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”.

About the
Author: Swati Srivastava
is an avid writer with a keen interest in the extensive domain of job search
and career counselling. She is Assistant Manager Content at Naukrigulf.com (a part of Infoedge), her articles are
published on several reputed job search portals and online career
magazine.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect those of EconMatters.